The present invention relates to a pushbutton switch in which both an actuation of the key and a touch of the key is detected.
Pushbutton switches of this type are employed, for example, in telephone keypads or control panels having several keys.
Pushbutton switches are known which include an elastic switching mat that acts on a subjacent contact on a printed circuit board and in this way closes a circuit in a mechanical manner when the key is actuated. The touch recognition of the key, on the other hand, may be effected capacitively, a sensor surface being applied on the inside of the key cap, for example, which is connected to an electronic evaluation unit by means of sliding contacts or lines. A drawback here is that the sensor surface needs to follow the movement of the key and the electrical connections are very involved in terms of process engineering and, in addition, are prone to error.